Science Education at High School: a VISIR Remote Lab Implementation

Experimentation is crucial in science teaching at any education level. Students’ motivation and collaborative work are also essential in order to achieve positive learning outcomes. This article portrays the implementation of remote experimentation using VISIR in a Physics subject at high-school level. Qualitative and quantitative data were analyzed for this particular case study in order to shed light on the influence of VISIR on students’ motivation. Results showed that VISIR remote lab is a powerful tool to arouse interest in electronic circuit topics.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Diseño de instrumentos para la investigación sobre la implementación educativa del laboratorio remoto VISIR en Latinoamérica

El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo general describir los instrumentos de investigación diseñados para el seguimiento de la implementación de los Módulos Educativos sobre teoría y práctica de circuitos eléctricos y electrónicos con el apoyo del laboratorio remoto VISIR (Virtual Instrument Systems in Reality) en instituciones de educación superior de Brasil y Argentina en el marco del proyecto VISIR+. Los objetivos particulares son: describir las dimensiones técnicas y pedagógicas que se desprenden de los propósitos del Proyecto VISIR y definir cómo se operacionalizan en el diseño de los instrumentos para la recolección de datos destinados a los profesores y alumnos que participan en la implementación de los módulos. La investigación educativa ofrece herramientas que se fundamentan en posturas epistemológicas diversas y que pueden reconocerse en las decisiones que se toman al elaborar un diseño de investigación. A través de esta presentación, se espera contribuir a acercar ámbitos habitualmente disociados tales como la docencia, la ciencia y la tecnología, la innovación educativa y la investigación en la educación para la ingeniería.N/

The VISIR+ Project – Helping Contextualize Math in an Engineering Course

The long-term goal of engineering education is to prepare students to work as engineers. Being a practical profession, laboratories play a crucial role in illustrating concepts and principles as well as improving technical skills. In the last decades the use of online resources (simulators and remote labs) has been growing, either as a complementary and/or as an alternative way of developing experimental competences. In the scope of the VISIR+ Project, this work presents the first results of a didactical implementation using simultaneously the remote laboratory VISIR (Virtual Instrument Systems in Reality), simulation and calculus in a Math Course at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC). The preliminary results indicate that the use of several resources increases students’ performance, boosting their learning and competence development.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Perspectivas de los Laboratorios Remotos en la Educación Media y Superior de Santiago del Estero

El presente artículo tiene como principal objetivo averiguar las perspectivas de los laboratorios remotos en la educación superior y media técnica, con especialidad en electricidad y electrónica, de la ciudad de Santiago del Estero. Motiva este estudio, la instalación de un Laboratorio Remoto VISIR en la Universidad Nacional de Santiago del Estero. Argentina, puesto a disposición de las instituciones de nivel superior y media técnica de la ciudad de Santiago del Estero y con la posibilidad de brindar un servicio del más alto nivel, ajustado a las limitaciones del laboratorio remoto. La metodología utilizada es el Estudio por Encuesta y el instrumento para recolección de datos, el cuestionario. Los resultados indican una aceptación pedagógica del concepto y uso de Laboratorio Remoto. Este estudio sería un punto de partida para investigaciones posteriores que aborden temáticas cada vez más complejas, tales como, la relación entre el rendimiento académico de los alumnos y el uso de laboratorios remotos y/o el incremento en las vocaciones por el estudio de carreras de ingeniería.N/

Enseñanza de Ciencias en Nivel Secundario: Experimentación Remota Usando VISIR

La actividad experimental es fundamental en la enseñanza de las ciencias en cualquier nivel de educación, para la comprensión de los contenidos, pero también para despertar el interés en las asignaturas científicas. La motivación de los estudiantes y el trabajo colaborativo son aspectos esenciales para lograr resultados positivos en el aprendizaje. Este artículo describe la implementación de una serie de actividades de experimentación remota utilizando el laboratorio remoto VISIR en una asignatura de Física en nivel secundario. Datos cualitativos y cuantitativos fueron analizados con el objetivo de estudiar la influencia del uso de VISIR en la motivación de los estudiantes. Los resultados mostraron que la experimentación remota es una herramienta muy útil para fomentar el interés en tópicos de circuitos electrónicos.N/

Projeto VISIR+ Contextualização da Matemática em Engenharia

O objetivo a longo prazo da educação em engenharia é formar profissionais capazes de dar resposta aos problemas e necessidades da sociedade. Nesta formação, a componente prática não pode ser descurada e nas últimas décadas a utilização de laboratórios remotos e de simulações tem-se generalizado, sendo um complemento ou alternativa aos laboratórios tradicionais. Este trabalho, no âmbito do Projeto VISIR+, apresenta os primeiros resultados de uma implementação didática levada a um cabo numa disciplina de matemática numa universidade brasileira. Nesta implementação foram usados em simultâneo o laboratório remoto VISIR (Virtual Instrument Systems in Reality), simulação e cálculo em cerca de 20% do conteúdo da disciplina. Os resultados obtidos, apontam que o uso de vários recursos pode de facto contribuir para um melhor desempenho dos estudantes, impulsionando o desenvolvimento de competências.N/

The VISIR+ Project – Preliminary results of the training actions

Experimental competences allow engineering students to consolidate knowledge and skills. Remote labs are a powerful tool to aid students in those developments. The VISIR remote lab was considered the best remote lab in the world in 2015. The VISIR+ project main goal is to spread VISIR usage in Brazil and Argentina, providing technical and didactical sup- port. This paper presents an analysis of the already prosecuted actions regarding this project and an assessment of their impact in terms of conditioning factors. The overall outcomes are highly positive since, in each Latin American Higher Education Institution, all training actions were successful, the first didactical implementations were designed and ongoing in the current semester. In some cases, instead of one foreseen implementation, there are several. The most statistically conditioning factors which affected the outcomes were the pre-experience with re- mote labs, the pre-experience with VISIR and the training actions duration. The teachers’ per- ceptions that most conditioned their enrollment in implementing VISIR in their courses were related to their consciousness of the VISIR effectiveness to teach and learn. The lack of time to practice and discuss their doubts and the fulfillment of their expectations in the training actions, also affected how comfortable in modifying their course curricula teachers were.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Spreading remote lab usage: A system — A community — A Federation

Experiments have been at the heart of scientific development and education for centuries. From the outburst of Information and Communication Technologies, virtual and remote labs have added to hands-on labs a new conception of practical experience, especially in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics education. This paper aims at describing the features of a remote lab named Virtual Instruments System in Reality, embedded in a community of practice and forming the spearhead of a federation of remote labs. More particularly, it discusses the advantages and disadvantages of remote labs over virtual labs as regards to scalability constraints and development and maintenance costs. Finally, it describes an actual implementation in an international community of practice of engineering schools forming the embryo of a first world wide federation of Virtual Instruments System in Reality nodes, under the framework of a project funded by the Erasmus+ Program.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Chapter 1

Experimenting is fundamental to the training process of all scientists and engineers. While experiments have been traditionally done inside laboratories, the emergence of Information and Communication Technologies added two alter-natives accessible anytime, anywhere. These two alternatives are known as virtual and remote labs, and are sometimes indistinguishably referred as online labs. Sim-ilarly to other instructional technologies, virtual and remote labs require some ef-fort from teachers in integrating them into curricula, taking into consideration sev-eral factors that affect their adoption (i.e. cost) and their educational effectiveness (i.e. benefit). This chapter analyses these two dimensions and sustains the case where only through international cooperation it is possible to serve the large num-ber of teachers and students involved in engineering education. It presents an ex-ample in the area of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, based on a remote lab named Virtual Instruments System in Reality, and it then describes how a number of European and Latin-American institutions have been cooperating under the scope of an Erasmus+ project2, for spreading its use in Brazil and Argentina.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Sharing educational experiences from in-person classroom to collaborative lab environments

Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), 2017This paper describes how the Spanish University for Distance Education (UNED) is currently sharing its educational experience on collaborative labs environments with an Argentinean University: the Santiago del Estero National University. This experience takes place within a wider framework provided by the VISIR+ project, which aims to define, implement and evaluate a set of educational modules following an Enquiry-based Teaching and Learning Methodology supported by the VISIR remote lab.N/